During the turmoil of conference realignment, both BYU and the Big 12 flirted with the Cougars joining the conference. Instead, the Big 12 invited TCU and West Virginia, and closed its doors at 10 members, while BYU went on to become an independent.

But BYU football coach Bronco Mendenhall is now making a case for the Cougars' inclusion into the Big 12.

"We would love to be in the Big 12," Mendenhall told the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. "I would love to be a member of that conference. I think that would make a lot of sense."